


Hold Me Tight

by JainaDurron7



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Ice Skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28131582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JainaDurron7/pseuds/JainaDurron7
Summary: While the Jackson-Blofis family plus Annabeth spend the holidays together, Sally finds enough holiday cheer in watching her son and his girlfriend.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 102





	Hold Me Tight

_ “But if you really hold me tight, _

_ All the way home I’ll be warm” _

~ “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, Dean Martin

* * *

Sally is well used to the stars in Annabeth and Percy’s eyes, but she swears they get brighter every year. They’re still dating, and she makes a note to herself to pester Percy later about whether he has any plans.

But for now, their love takes up too much room. They already have a room to themselves when they visit, Sally muses, and Paul jests that he can smell the pheromones across the apartment. They need to get out. Those two need to blow off  _ something _ , so Sally suggests they go ice-skating.

A native New Yorker, Sally has never cared for going to the Rockefeller Center. Instead, there’s a small rink she found when Percy was still little. It’s a quaint little spot, quiet and reserved, far from the crowds of the big city. She used to take Percy every year, and she’s thrilled to be going again.

They load up her and Paul’s new car, all five of them— Sally, Paul, Estelle, Percy, and Annabeth. It will be both Estelle and Annabeth’s first time.

None of them have skates, so Sally goes to the little shack to pick up a pair for herself and Paul. Percy rents for himself and Annabeth, already knowing his girlfriend’s size.

When Sally returns with their skates, Paul is kneeling with Estelle on a bench before him, retying her boots. Estelle is just a toddler, and she points to her brother who is carrying skates to Annabeth, and babbles in part toddler nonsense. “Not this time, kiddo,” Paul tells her. “You’re a little too small for skates like that. Boots are much easier.”

While they lace up their skates, Sally glances to her side where Annabeth sits, playfully kicking at Percy as he attempts to help her put on hers. “I don’t need your help putting on skates!”

“Really? How many times have you been ice-skating before, Ms. Never-Left-Camp-Until-She-Was-Twelve?”

“Shut up! I can at least put on my own skates!”

Percy gives up surprisingly easily, but Sally quickly realizes it’s only because he knows she’s bluffing. Her laces are a mess, tied loosely around all the wrong hooks. Percy laughs at her as he takes her foot into his lap and redoes them for her, but Annabeth is laughing too.

Once they’re all ready, Sally and Paul take Estelle’s hands and carefully lead her onto the ice. She laughs at the slipperiness and moves her feet back and forth, making boot prints in the frost and snow.

Some feet away, Annabeth is leaning like an old woman, knees bent and arms spread at her sides. Percy is holding one of her hands, and he openly laughs at her, but you would have to be blind to miss the adoration shining on his face. His eyes  _ sparkle  _ with fondness and Sally almost laughs because he looks like a neon sign in a ghost town in the dead of night— impossible to miss.

Percy pulls Annabeth onto her feet, hounds her to stand straight, inching back to let her get used to it. She carefully shuffles her feet, making minuscule progress across the rink until the slippery ice catches her by surprise and Percy is back to her side in a flash. Once she’s recovered from her surprise, Annabeth laughs at herself and leans into Percy’s arms. He takes her by the hands and drags her around the rink. She falls on her butt, and Percy drags her around like that too.

“Mommy!” It isn’t until Estelle is calling for her attention that Sally realizes how long she was watching her son and his girlfriend. Sally takes her hands and swings her around in a circle, cherishing her daughter’s laugh until she gets dizzy and decides to start crawling on the ice. She and Paul decide it’s time for a hot chocolate break, and they take Estelle with them to a little table to rest.

Percy and Annabeth are still on the rink. Annabeth has somewhat gotten the hang of moving herself on skates and she makes awkward movements across the rink to chase after Percy who has her scarf. Their cheeks and nose are rosy with cold, and Sally wants them to come over for something warm to drink, but they’re having so much fun, so enraptured in each other, that Sally can’t bother to interrupt them.

When Annabeth finally catches up to Percy— or, he lets her—, she steals his hat in retaliation, and his dark hair spikes up. She spins to make a quick getaway but slips and Percy immediately has his arms around her, pulling her close, grinning. His laughs are visible, puffs of warm air in the December chill, and his grin is bright. Reverent. His eyes follow her, her every move, her every smile, every turn of her head. His eyes glaze over with reverence, awe. He whispers something in her ear and Annabeth blushes fiercely, turning in his arms to grab his face. Then, she sees his messy hair and she roughs it up even more with her gloved fingers. She throws her head back in boisterous laughter, and Percy just stares at her, a drunken little smile on his face.

When they look back at each other, they have stars in their eyes and snowflakes in their lashes, and Sally thinks this is a framed picture of love. Not like an old married couple smiling at two young lovers and reflecting,  _ oh, to be young and in love! _ But Percy and Annabeth have such a perfect, pure love. They are young, but that just means all the more days ahead of them. When onlookers watch them, Sally thinks it’s just because they’re envious. Who finds love so true and strong that they get to spend so much of their lives together? Sally is happy for them.

When Sally looks again, they’ve exchanged items, Percy wearing her scarf around his head and Annabeth wearing his hat. Percy poses for her, tossing one end of the gray scarf over his shoulder and jutting out his hip. Annabeth’s laughter floats across the clearing, a joyful holiday tone of its own.

Percy and Annabeth are still chasing each other, falling into each other’s arms, throwing snow, and screeching in their laughter.

“Mommy, they being loud,” Estelle frowns as she watches her brother pick up Annabeth and throw her over his shoulder, Annabeth screaming in protest.

Sally nudges the little girl along, smiling. “They’re having fun, sweetie. Come on, let’s go over here and look at the lights.”

The employee in the shack pulls out a stereo and starts playing 40s and 50s Christmas music. Sally and Paul dance with Estelle, swinging her arms to the music. When the stereo goes on a mellow Bing Crosby kick, Percy and Annabeth take to dancing, holding each other and rocking from foot to foot. Their laughter turns quiet, and Sally begins to wonder if their rosy cheeks are still from the cold or something else … 

Another employee takes to the rink with a selfie-stick that has mistletoe hanging off the end and randomly chooses skaters to hang the mistletoe over. It’s a while before Percy and Annabeth realize that the employee has set their sights on them, but they happily oblige; and when they kiss, Percy hugs Annabeth to him like he’ll never let go. Long after the employee is satisfied and goes off to find another couple to pester, Annabeth and Percy cling to each other, Annabeth’s hands balled up in the open flaps of his jacket. They part only for breath, mistletoe hardly a necessary excuse to hold each other and soak in each other’s warmth.

They talk on and on and on, and Sally has no idea what they’re talking about, but their looks and touches are tender, full of palpable love. Sally can feel the warmth of their intertwined presence from across the rink.

They stay at the rink until Percy and Annabeth finally slow down. Estelle falls asleep on the car ride home. Percy rests his head on Annabeth’s shoulder, nearly asleep. When they get home, Paul warms up popcorn and they watch a Christmas movie. Halfway through, Estelle is asleep again. Sally carries her to bed.

Another half-hour later, Percy and Annabeth, who are cuddled up together under the same blanket in matching Christmas pajamas, are both passed out, Annabeth’s head resting on Percy’s shoulder, his arms keeping her in his lap.

Sally smiles, trades a look with her husband. While he turns off the movie, Sally fixes their blanket to cover their shoulders, flicks off the living room lights, and she and Paul leave them there for the night.

Sally doesn’t know how this happened, how her son and Annabeth (who is practically her daughter) got so lucky. She isn’t so sure Aphrodite has as kind a heart as to have been the one to make this match, but Sally is sure there is no higher power to thank for this.

They found each other. Something less than the gods manipulated the Fates just so, but Percy and Annabeth found each other and survived together, and every step since has been on their own. And Sally can hardly wait to see the future they make for themselves. But for now, she is content to watch them in the moment and envy what they have found and will forever have.


End file.
